Benedict XVI: 1960's sexual revolution and homosexual cliques caused sex abuse crisis [View all]

[47of74]

Ugh

Retired Pope Benedict XVI has published an analysis on the Catholic Church's clergy sex abuse scandal, blaming it on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and church laws that protected priests. Benedict also claimed that "homosexual cliques" once existed in seminaries.

Benedict provided no basis for his claim about the cliques, which he said "acted more or less openly and significantly changed the climate in the seminaries." Instead, he described a seminary in southern Germany where aspiring priests lived with candidates for the lay ministry, some of whom were married or had girlfriends, and Benedict said, "The climate in this seminary could not provide support for preparation to the priestly vocation."

The one-time head of the church also claimed that pedophilia was "diagnosed as allowed and appropriate" during the '60s. The essay immediately raised eyebrows, seeming to interfere with or even contradict Pope Francis' own efforts to confront one of the most critical issues facing the church.

I hope Francis has a stern talking to with him about this and his need to truly confine himself to prayer and penance for the rest of his life.